About 30 minutes into watching my tape of the NHRA Gatornationals final round, I realized school systems everywhere are missing a great opportunity.
Perhaps to an even greater degree than NASCAR’s top three series, the crew chiefs and drag racers of the NHRA really care a lot about track and air temperatures, and humidity. I know some schools have made shop-class projects out of building a dragster, but the math classes could also take some real-life examples from the drag strip and turn them into lessons.
I remember to this day, 30+ years later, the high-school economics class I took in senior year where we actually “played” both the stock and commodities markets (it helped convince me my future did not lie on Wall Street)
The more fun it is, the less it seems like learning. That’s true of school and life, too.
I told you the last time, when I correctly guessed two out of three winners at the NHRA event in Phoenix, was pure luck.
My lack of knowledge about drag racing in general and the NHRA in particular was put to the test this weekend, as I went oh-fer on my picks for the Gators.
Although I am somewhat pleased that all four of my picks made it to Sunday’s final rounds, only Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle made it to the semi-finals. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) were bounced in the second round and Robert Hight (Funny Car) didn’t make it past the opening round.
Even so, I’m halfway to completing my picks for the NHRA, needing just Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle, and there is plenty of time left.
For the NASCAR West series, Newhall, Calif., driver Greg Pursley took the checkered flag after moving up from third-place on a green-white-checkered finish at the season-opening Texas Thunder 150 in Kyle, Texas. My pick was Jason Bowles, who finished ninth.
— The crowd at the NHRA Gatornationals looked good, with the ESPN announcers saying additional temporary grandstands had to be put in to accommodate everyone.
The NHRA had said the Gators would be part of its “Fan Relief” program, with reduced ticket prices and it seems to have worked.
Don’t forget, too, the NHRA also offers exceptional access to the pits for fans, who can wander around and get all the autographs they can while watching the crews feverishly turn the cars around between rounds.
— The “Who’d a thunk it?” moment from Sunday in Gainesville: Winning Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon thanking “the sheik” after getting his Wally. Of course, Dixon is driving for first-year start up team Al-Anabi Racing, which has some Middle Eastern connections.
— I’m no math major (Ed: trust me, he’s not even a math minor), but it amazes me to see the faster car lose on a pass. I know, I know, it’s the whole run, not just the top speed — but still, it’s just a different way to look at it.
— The raw emotion coming from Funny Car winner Bob Tasca was great to see, but do you think he’s a fan of a particular brand of automobile? Seriously, I think Ford should give him a bonus because he somehow began or ended every sentence with the auto-maker’s name.
— I thought ESPN’s cameras did a good job of finding eliminated big-name drivers hanging around, watching the later rounds. Maybe it’s because there was no live feed, so they couldn’t go hide in their trailers like a wrecked-out NASCAR driver, but it was nice to see someone like Tony Schumacher watching the final Top Fuel round in person.
— It looks like Auburn driver Jeff Barkshire didn’t make the trip to Texas for the West series opener. Barkshire’s team is a friends and family supported operation, so it could just be that the timing was bad, but funding could also be the issue. I’ll try to find out for sure.
— Reader Steve Pranger commented on Saturday’s final qualifying that he couldn’t understand why no team had picked up Angelle Sampey for a bike ride this year.
I’ll do some digging and see if I can get some more info on that, but don’t forget Hillary Will from Top Fuel, and husband-and-wife Melanie Troxel and Tommy Johnson from Funny Car are also on the sidelines this season. I’m sure money is the reason for all that talent sitting.
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